Electrical game board



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m 3 .N .N .N J. on a T 4 D 8. g B a B M O: mm mm N D N $3 B E B y 5, 1948. D. 'r. MYERS ELECTRICAL GAME BOARD Filed Jan. 6, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 DAVID T. MYERS,

Patented May 25, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRICAL GAME BOARD David T. Myers, Charlotte, N. 0. Application January 6, 1947, Serial No. 720,367

4 Claims. (01. 273-138) This invention relates to a game board and more especially to an electrical game board wherein a plurality of playing surfaces are provided and each surface having a plurality of positions to which playing men may be moved and these playing positions are so Wired up to a source of electrical energy that when a certain playing man on one half of the board is positioned on a particular playing position and one of the playing men on the other half of the board is positioned on a particular playing position, a circuit will be completed to give a signal.

It is an object of this invention to provide a game board comprising two playing surfaces, each having a plurality of metallic members imbedded therein and said members on one half of the board being connected to a plurality of jacks or sockets and the metallic members on the other end of the board having a wired connection with a plurality of plugs which are adapted to be inserted in said jacks, said plugs being capabl of being pulled out and stuck at random into the jacks so as to change the combination each time the plugs are remove-d and again inserted in different jacks.

It is another object of this invention to pro- Vide a planar playing surface divided into two sections and each section having a plurality of metallic members in spaced relation thereon and being preferably flush with the top surface of the playing stu'face and having a plurality of jacks disposed on the playing surface on the board between the two ends thereof and between the two playing surfaces and the metallic members on one end of the'board being wired to a plurality of jacks disposed in an intermediate portion of the board and the imbedded members on the other end of the board having wires leading therefrom to a plurality of plugs which are adapted to be inserted into the jacks and a plurality of playing men are connected to a source of current and are movable to different positions on the playing surfaces so that when a playing man is disposed on a given metallic member at one end of the board, and another playing man is disposed on a given member in the other end of the board, a circuit will b completed to sound a signal and so many signals which are first sounded by particular player can be declared winner of the game.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional'view taken along the line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken along the line 33 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the apparatus with the lid portion removed;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 55 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 6-6-in Figure 4;

Figure '7 is a bottom plan view of the lid portion.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral I0 indicates the bottom of a suitable box having side walls II and I2 and end walls l3 and I4. The end walls l3 and "Land the side walls likewise, if desired, can have suitable projections 15 and I6 projecting from the inside surface thereof for removably supporting a game board or lid [1.

The left-hand end of the playing board or lid H has a plurality of cavities therein in which a plurality of metallic members a to p, inclusive, are mounted with their upper surfaces flush with the upper surface of the game board IT. The other end of the game board [1 has likewise a plurality of metallic members A to P, inclusive, mounted flush-top therein. To the shank portion 20 of each of the metallic members a to 7 clusive, is connected a wire, these wires being designated by reference characters 30 to 45, inclusive. These wires all pass upwardly through an opening 46 in the central portion of the lid 11. The other ends of these wires 30 to 45 inclusive are connected to suitable plugs such as the telephone type of plug which are indicated by reference characters 50 to inclusive.

On the other end of the game board Where the metallic members A to P inclusive are disposed, each of these metallic members has a shank such as illustrated in Figure 3 and designated by reference character 20 and with a nut 2| thereon and to each of these shanks 20 is connected one end of a wire, said wires being indicated by 10 to 85, inclusive, The other ends of these Wires 10 to 85, inclusive, are connected to the lower portion of sockets to I05, inclusive, which extend below the lower surface of lid IT. The ends of the board I1 are notched as at it! and IE8 and wires I09 and I I0 pass through the notch I98 and are connected to suitable playing men Ill and H2, with the lower portion of these playing men Ill and H2 being metallic and to which the ends of the wires I09 and H0 are connected to establish a circuit through the wires I09 and H and through the lower portion of the playing men III and H2 for purposes to be presently described. These wires I09 and III] are connected to one post II3 of a suitable dry cell battery H4 or it could be a transformer if 6 desired. To a post I I5 of the battery is connected a wire I I6 which extends to a post I I! on a conventional electrically operated buzzer indicated broadlyat H9, This buzzer has another post I20. to which, wires I2I and I22 are connected, said 10 wires leading upwardly through notch I01 and being connected to playing men I23 and 124 which are identical to the playing men III and 2. i. In operation all of the plugs fiiito 65, inclusive, can be pulled out of the sockets 90 to I05, inclu sive, and'can be indiscriminately again plugged: into any of the sockets and thus when any one of the playing men III, I I2, I23 or I24 are placed on ametallic member a to p, inclusive, or A to P, inelusive, so as to complete a circuit the buzzer will operate and give a signal to the players. Any typeof game may be played as, for example, the player which first produces an operation of the buzzer would be declared the winner'of the game 25 or the buzzer would haveto be operated so many times before the game was declared won and whoever secured a ringingof the buzzer this predetermined numberjof times first'would be declared the winner of the game. By having the 80 plugs or jacks removable and reinsertable in any one of the sockets, it is evident that a player would absolutely have no knowledge as to how thecircut was hooked up pas to enable him to haveran unfair-advantage over his opponent by 85 placing his playing man or men on a desired metallic member a top or A to P as the case may be. 7 In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a p-referred'embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are em- 40 ployed, they aroused in a generic and descriptivesense only, and not for purposes of limita- ,tion, th e scope of the invention being defined in theclaims. H,

Iclaim; V N v .,1., A game apparatus comprising a. box-like member havinga removable lid, said lid having a 7 plurality of, spacedmetallicmembersdisposed in h each end of the lid whose upper surfaces are flush with the upper surface of the lid, a source of; elec- .tricalenergy disposed inthe box, a wire connected to the lower portion ofeach of the metallic members in one end of the lid and passing througha centrally disposed opening in the lid,

- ajplug secured to theiother end feach of said 65 wires, a plurality of. socket members penetrating,

. the lid and into which, the plugs are adapted to be inserted,,vvires connected .tothe lower end of each of thesocket members and leading to the metalliclmembers disposed in the other end of theboard,-a playing member having a wire connected thereto at one end and said playing member being arranged and constructed to be movablerfrom one metallic member to another in one end of the board, the other end of the wire connected to the playing member being connected to the source, of energy, a buzzer disposed in the box andthaving a wire leading therefrom to the bat- -'tery and a playing member arranged and constructedto be moved from one metallic mem- 7o bar to another on the other end of the board and having .a wire connected thereto and the other end of thelast-na-med wire being connectedto said buzzer-whereby when the playing members are moved from one metallic member to another, 15

lower portion of each of the'metallic members and at one end and passing upwardly through said hole in the central portion of the game boardra plug secured to the other end of each of said wires, the metallic members in the other end of the .bo'ard'each having the wire connected thereto, a plurality of sockets mounted in the board and to the lower end of which the. lastnamed wires are connected, a battery disposed below the game board'and having a wire connected to' one terminal thereof and a movable 'playing' member connected to the other end thereof, the lower portion of the playing member having a metallic portion to which said lastnamed wire is connected, a wire connected to the other terminal of'the battery, a buzzer connected to the other end of the last-named wire,

another wire connected to the buzzer and having a playing member connected thereto, the lower surface of the last-named playing member being metallic and'being connected to said last-named wire, theplugs on the first-named wires being adapted to be-indiscriminately inserted into said sockets so that when a playing member is disposed on a pre-detenmined metallic member in one end of the game board and a second playing member is disposed on a metallic member in the other end of the game board which is in the same secondary circuit as the firstnamed playing member a circuit will be estabuished through the battery and through the buzzer to'sound analarm.

3. A game board comprising a plurality of spaced metallicmembers embedded in each end portion of the game board and having their upper surfaces flush with the upper surface of the game board, a wire having one end connected to the lower portions of the'metallic members, the wires connected to the lower portions of the metallic members on one board having a'jack connected to each of the other ends thereof, said game board having a central opening through which said jack wiresjare led before they reach said jacks, the central portion of the game board having mounted therein a plurality of sockets extending from the upper surface to the lower surface thereof, the wires connected to the metallic members in the other end of the board having their other ends individually connected toeeach of the socket portions disposed on the lower surface of the game board, a battery disposed below the board and having a buzzer connected to one terminal of the battery, a' wire leading from the other side of the buzzer to the upper side of the game board and having a metallic playing member attached thereto, another wire leading from the other post of the battery to the other upper side of the other end of the game board and having likewise a metallic playing member attached thereto, whereby when the two playing members are disposed on certain ones of the metallic members they will complete a circuit through the battery and the buzzer.

l. A game board comprising a playing surface disposed near each end thereof and each playing surface having a plurality of spaced metallic members embedded therein whose upper surfaces are substantially flush with the upper surface of the game board, a plurality of sockets mounted in the central portion of the game board, an opening disposed in the central portion of the game board, a plurality of wires having one end thereof each connected to a metallic member in one end of the game board and passing upwardly through said opening and having each a jack or plug attached to the other end thereof for insertion into said socket members, a Wire leading from each of the lower portions of the socket members to each of the metallic members in the other end of the game board, a battery disposed below the game board and having a wire leading from one terminal thereof to the upper surface of one end of the game board and having a metallic movable playing member attached thereto which is adapted to be moved from one metallic member to another, a buzzer disposed adjacent to battery and having a wire leading from the other terminal of the battery to one side of the buzzer, a wire leading from the other side of the buzzer to the upper surface of the other end of the game board and having a metallic playing member attached thereto, whereby when the two playing members are moved onto two metallic members in the same secondary circuit they will complete a circuit through the battery and the buzzer to sound an alarm.

DAVID T. MYERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,356,493 Hammond et a1. July 13, 1929 1,637,124 Morin July 26, 1927 2,104,718 Daugherty Jan. 1, 1938 2,139,860 Schwendeman Dec. 13, 1938 2,275,988 Parker Mar. 10, 1942 

